Arlington Court is an unexpected jewel: a complete family estate. The intimate Regency house was designed in a severe neoclassical style circa 1820, and is situated in Arlington, near Barnstaple, North Devon. The Carriage Museum in the stables has vehicles ranging from those used on a daily basis to state carriages, supported by teams of working horses. (See also entry for Mossman Carriage Collection)

The house was built by Colonel John Palmer Chichester (1769-1823), and designed by a local architect Thomas Lee. The Chichester family were minor Devonshire gentry and a junior branch of the Chichester family of Raleigh and Youlston, Devon. The house was considerably expanded by John Chichester's grandson Sir Bruce Chichester in 1865.

In 1876 the Arlington estate extended to some 5,300 acres. Sir Bruce's unmarried daughter and heiress, Rosalie Chichester, donated the mansion to the National Trust together with 3,500 acres on her death in 1949. It contains treasures for all tastes, from model ships to shells, avidly collected by the Chichester family.

This representative collection of carriages was started in 1966 at a time when many such vehicles were being restored and sold to America. Currently, there are over fifty carriages on public display, supported by a substantial range of coaching paraphernalia, harnesses and costumes.

The Speaker's Carrriage is on loan to the collection and displayed in an air-conditioned environment. The parliamentary coach was originally made in 1698 for William III and was later presented to the Speaker of the House by Queen Anne. It was last used by Speaker Thomas in 1981 for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

The State Chariot is also one of the most important carriages in the collection; not only in original, unrestored condition, it is also a remarkable example of the work of Hooper & Co., the finest London coachbuilders of the 19th century. It has silver-plated furniture including axle caps and stock hoops, head plates (the crests of the Craven family on the upper quarter panels), snake-head body loops and beautiful decorative terminations to the plated pin beads. It also has the silver-plated coats of arms of the family on the hammer cloth.

The interior is beautifully lined in a bright, very rich shade of blue damask. It is called a chariot because of the shape of the body. A coach seats four inside the body, and therefore has a seat ahead of the doors and one behind them. A chariot seats only two on a seat behind the doors. This chariot was built for the Earl of Craven, probably in the mid-1800s. State carriages were owned only by the nobility and used on very important occasions such as the state opening of Parliament, society weddings and grand receptions. This very limited use has kept it, and other vehicles like it, in excellent condition.

The buildings are Listed Grade II*.